Reflections on the Fourth Week of Summer

 

Early Friday, I drove past cows grazing in Kathy's lower field and turned onto the dirt road to fetch her for a quilter's yard sale in Franklin. We delved through piles of material and inspected housewares. After our girl's morning out, I pulled back onto Kathy's road. A car had parked at the other end of the field. “I wonder what he's doing by my cows.” I backed down the dirt road and onto the hard road so she could investigate. “He's looking at something. Is Ruby having her calf?” I drove closer. “Oh, it's a woman..” I parked. “It's Tammy.” A small black calf lay in a lump on the ground. The other cows stood fifteen feet away. Kathy's daughter Tammy walked to us and said the calf wasn't moving except to twitch its ears. Kathy said, “Maybe it was just born. The shock of birth takes awhile to wear off.” Because a weak back had put Ruby at risk in labor, Kathy tried to check her. “Here, Ruby.” Ruby looked over her shoulder but didn't come. The calf raised its head. Kathy walked along the fence to get a view of Ruby's hind quarters. The calf scrambled to its feet and ran to Ruby. The herd circled the newborn, and Ruby led them into the woods. “She's hiding the calf from us.” Saturday, Kathy emailed. “It's a girl so Tammy named her Diamond. Maybe she's a diamond in the rough.” Sunday I called to ask if Ruby was still hiding Diamond, or if I could get a picture. “Oh, you could have gotten a great picture yesterday. She got out of the fence and was walking on the grass along the road.”